Over/Unders... $900 vs 25k?

F

Foxer2373

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
27   0   0
Location
Jasper ON Zone 66A
Hey guys,

So I’ve been looking at Over/unders this week. I own a Turkey knock off and it’s “ok”

However when I start looking into my high end, which would cap at 5k(not a drop in the bucket for me). I still hear in most reviews, lots of negatives or compromises or things that should be going on with a 5k firearm.

So my main questions are, once you get into the 2K+ market are you just buying prestige at that point or are they really that much better?

Are the people complaining for the sake of complaining, IE: was seriously looking at the Benelli 828U Black, however the reviews were not great and everyone said go with the sport(at 2K more). And the guys reviewing the sport still were not thrilled. And even the D10 has its detractors.

Should I just stick with my $900 knock off and not venture into the land of expensive, only to be left wanting.

Final thought... if you said a gun was 5k and were talking about anything other than an Over/Under or Safari Big bore gun, you would expect perfection, that doesn’t seem the case with these though...
 
I know it's not what you're asking, but I have a Belgian sxs that I bought used for something in the ballpark of $300. I love it, it does everything I need it to do and more because of how fun it is to shoot. So I guess my point is who cares what other people think, as long as it works for you, it's worth whatever price you pay for it.
 
Snowdingo said:
What are you doing with it? Regular skeet/trap or an occasional shooter? Hunting?
Click to expand...

Occasional all of the above, I have my own land and do want to get the thrower out more often and when things open again would love to get out to the odd comp.

Turkey and duck hunting with my nice gun could happen on occasion but anything super muddy or snowy slog I’d pull a different shotgun out.
 
For reference, I shoot about 5k rounds a year in trap, skeet and sporting clays. I've owned a Remington 1100, a Browning Citori and am currently shooting a Citori 725 which is in the $4k price range. If you're going to go and shoot 1 or 2 rounds a couple times per month then any turkish O/U will do you just fine. In my experience a majority of the turkish guns fall short in the long term. I've seen a few become loose quite quickly and some with ftf's under 1k rounds as well. At the same time I've heard good things about Huglu, so there seems to be exceptions.

I chose the 725 over the standard citori because I wanted all the extra perks but I would have still been very happy with a regular citori. I think any beretta or browning in the $2-3k range is where you see the biggest upgrade from a sub $1k turkish gun. If you go over that you're mostly doing it for cosmetic and ergonomic reasons.
 
Once you pass the entry levels of the bigger names the prices increase for ornamentation. Engraving scenes and or hand engraving and wood figure can really up the price.
Personally i dont see the need to spend more than 5 grand on a ou as a beretta 687 sp3 or 693 field is below that. I do shoot alot but not enough to warrent the need for a dt10 or 11. Theres guns out there costing much more that id love i mean pick up a perazzi catalog but my pockets arent that deep.
An expensive gun wont turn an average shooter into a good shooter. Ive seen alot of guys struggle to hit 50% with kolars and blasers. They looked good though.
Its personal choice. Decide what options you need and which ones you want and set a budget and shop within those specs. Pay attention to fit not the name.
If hand engraving and highly figured wood are something you want be prepared to pay for it
After all when you start shooting enough to worry about wearing out a gun youll be spending so much on ammo that the price of the gun really isnt that big of the deal.
Obviously some guns are well established and have a proven record such as browning and beretta and perazzi. You pay for those better materials and proven designs. I have no expectations of my huglus out lasting a beretta 686 or browning 725 or perazzi mx8 but thats not to say my huglus are lacking for what they are. They fit well look great and shoot where i look.
 
Buy new or used?
- Unless you are looking for one specific gun/configuration... I'd look in the used market. There are plenty of safe queen looking for a new owner.

Can't help you much about which guns are better than others, I had fun shooting a Win. 101 for a while, and other than the fact I whish it had double triggers, I thought it was pretty good gun...
 
If you shoot 1000 shots per year, the cheap Turkish O/U may last several years, if you shoot 10,000 rounds per year, it likely won't make it past a year or two, without issues. A Citori or Beretta of the same price range will usually last hundreds of thousands of shots , with maintenance such as replacing firing pins and springs now and then.
 
If what you have is working and your happy with it then there isn't much reason to change.
Having said that, there is no question that a $3000 to $5000 dollar gun will last an occasional shooter a lifetime (and maybe longer) if you look after it whereas the chances of your $900 dollar gun doing that are slim at best. You are correct in saying that some of the more expensive guns have or have had problems, some late model Citori's had trigger problems, some Beretta 692's had ejector problems, etc, but for the most part these problems get identified and fixed then guns run well for a long time. Any time you buy a new model of anything whether it be a car or a gun, there is a risk of having problems. These problems normally get sorted out fairly quickly since the guns, like the car market is pretty competitive. When you move into guns more than $5k in price then you usually looking at either a really ornate gun or something that is built to last millions of rounds such as a Perazzi Mx8 and it's descendants.
 
One other thing that I'll mention. You imply that not all guns are perfect and some have problems, that I will agree with but I'd like to remind you that people that have problems like to complain about them on the internet and people that don't have problems tend to stay quiet. You have to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak and realize that there may be thousands of guys out there with a certain model of gun and 3 of them are vocally calling it trash on the internet so that doesn't necessarily mean the gun is no good but if one of those guys is a gun smith that has seen a bunch of that particular gun go though his shop then maybe there's something to it!
 
I agree with the Citori comment and offer the Silver Pigeon as well - they are far from the fanciest models but shoot as well as the others. Figure out which one has the best ergonomics for you and clean them every so often and they will last a lifetime. Stepping up in models from there might get you a different rib, extended chokes, adjustable stocks, nicer wood, maybe a different balance for field vs trap or skeet models, etc but when you get down to brass tacks you still have an essentially legendary shotgun that can do everything from clays and doves to turkey and waterfowl.
 
Well I have one that “works” I’m not exactly happy with it... the lock up is super stiff, it has extractors vs ejectors and it doesn’t fit me super well. It shoots not too bad but I credit most of that to the Benelli mobile chokes.

The main question is what are you getting for the >1000 gun vs the 1500-2500 vs the 3500-5000 vs the 10K plus. From what I’m seeing once you get into the higher end production mainstream guns, fit and finish/details is mainly the difference and not so much the performance end of things.
 
I have a $2000 Citori and a $5000 Rizzini...I shoot both guns the same. Fit is more important than cost IMO and if it doesn't fit you well you won't shoot it well. After fit it just depends on how bad you want to splurge on a gun...I've shot Citori's for years, you cant go wrong with them and theres a model for every price range. As for the Rizzini, it feels and shoots flat very similar to my Citori...and it was just so purty I had to have it.
 
With mainstream brands like Browning and Beretta you get durability and a parts supply for decades.
Lower end imported Turkish guns often don't have a reliable parts supply, and the models/importers are here today, gone tomorrow, in Canada.
 
You have to realize that a lot of the different models are based on the same design for instance, you can buy a Browning 725 Field model for $3,300 (give or take), then a Sporting Clays 725 for $4,400, then a 725 Golden Clays for $5,200 and they are all based on the 725 design. In this case, the $3,300 dollar gun is just as robust and reliable as the $5,200 dollar gun despite the cost difference. Same with Beretta, the 686, 687, 682, 692, 693 etc are all based on the 680 action, some are not identical but definitely based on the same design. For someone who intends to do quite a bit of target shooting, the premium charged for the target models are worth the money for the extra weight and adjustable stock combs and such however the target guns are a bit heavy to carry in the field for a days hunting.
The occasional shooter should not even consider moving up from these models into say a Dt-11, these guns are purpose built target guns and cost quite a bit more but the occasional shooter will see no benefit from the extra cost.
As for the $1,000 dollar gun, you pay your money and you take your chances. You may get a good gun that lasts a long time but you just as easily may not.
 
Falconflyer said:
You have to realize that a lot of the different models are based on the same design for instance, you can buy a Browning 725 Field model for $3,300 (give or take), then a Sporting Clays 725 for $4,400, then a 725 Golden Clays for $5,200 and they are all based on the 725 design. In this case, the $3,300 dollar gun is just as robust and reliable as the $5,200 dollar gun despite the cost difference. Same with Beretta, the 686, 687, 682, 692, 693 etc are all based on the 680 action, some are not identical but definitely based on the same design. For someone who intends to do quite a bit of target shooting, the premium charged for the target models are worth the money for the extra weight and adjustable stock combs and such however the target guns are a bit heavy to carry in the field for a days hunting.
The occasional shooter should not even consider moving up from these models into say a Dt-11, these guns are purpose built target guns and cost quite a bit more but the occasional shooter will see no benefit from the extra cost.
As for the $1,000 dollar gun, you pay your money and you take your chances. You may get a good gun that lasts a long time but you just as easily may not.
Click to expand...


Great explanation! This is starting to answer my question.
 
saskbooknut said:
Turkish guns often don't have a reliable parts supply, and the models/importers are here today, gone tomorrow, in Canada.
Click to expand...

Same can be said for Russian guns... You might need to have to do some digging/comparing/calling to source something...
- This been said, looking at the price some of the TsKIB shotguns sell for on Joh. Springer's auction... I get the itch... then I see their export fees, and the itch goes away :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom